Shadow Play
by Eulabeia
Summary: The Empire is a large superpower to the north of the rest of the ninja world. From its origins as a small country on the brink of disappearing, it has now become an unstoppable force as it seeks its one and only goal: to unite the rest of the ninja world under its banner. The Empire will do whatever it sees necessary in order to make this goal a reality.
1. Prologue

Prologue

The Empire used to be known as the Land of Illusions. According to our textbooks and scrolls, we weren't a terribly large country, and we were sandwiched between the Land of Earth south of us and the great northern plateau that served as the home to warrior tribes. Due to attacks from these tribes and the Land of Earth bullying us out of our land, the Land of Illusions was not expected to last for very long. The people weren't skilled in the art of using ninjutsu, and what fertile land we had owned had been taken by our enemies. Really, what little money our country managed to make was through our master puppeteers, shadow puppetry, and even then that helped speed up our downfall as these puppeteers were hired by the nobility of other countries, leaving their dying country as a faded memory in the back of their minds.

In all reality, the Empire should have never come to be. The Land of Illusions should have been cut up between the warrior tribes and the Land of Earth, our name only to be known by those who happen to stumble across it in some dusty historical text. Our only saving grace was the appearance of a man whom would come to be known as the First Kage, Tokudaiji Atsunaga.

The First Kage was said to have been found passed out in front of the Empire's first capital, Sakkakugakure, or the Illusion Village. The villagers there, though they did not have enough necessities for themselves, took Atsunaga in, fed him, and nursed him back to health. Atsunaga, moved by the villagers' kindness, in return promised to save their fading country.

In less than a year, Atsunaga had taken back the Land of Illusions's land that had been taken from them, however he didn't stop there and continued to take more land. By the end of his reign as the leader of the Land of Illusions, he had more than quadrupled the amount of land that our country owned, had trained our people in ways or war, and had set up a system and guidelines that we would continue to follow even into the present day. We were now "the Empire".

The Kage was the supreme ruler of the Empire and only those descended from Tokudaiji Atsunaga himself could claim that title. His direct subordinates were the Generals. At first, there was only one General, but in the current day there are five: General of the Inner Empire, General of the Northern Empire, General of the Eastern Empire, General of the Southern Empire, and finally General of the Western Empire. By the time that I had earned the title of General, it was the Generals who truly ran the Empire.

I became First General and General of the Inner Empire at age thirteen, making me the second youngest person to become General and the only female to ever become General. To be honest, I had been bred into the position by the previous Kage and his First General. It was the old Kage's plan to have his heir and the next First General grow up together and form an unbreakable bond of trust between them in order to continue the Campaigns. One could say that he had succeeded, the boy that would become Kage and myself did form the bond of trust he wanted, but unfortunate for him his son, Tokudaiji Akihiko, was not suitable for his position.

The coronation ceremony and promotion ceremony for Akihiko and I were held a week after the old Kage's death, the suicide of the previous First General following his death in accordance to Custom. The ceremonies were led by the eldest General, Fourth General and General of the Southern Empire Askikaga Takeshi. He started off by pinning the golden five-star emblem to Akihiko's white uniform, the same his father used to wear. Then a red armband with four silver stars sewed onto it was wrapped around my left arm, proving me a General.

I saluted Askikaga then followed everyone else's lead as we bowed to the new Kage. Akihiko was smiling at me, proud of himself and of me. I gave him a smile back before turning to face those who had been lucky enough to witness the ceremonies. As the choir sang, it was obvious to all but the new Kage that no one was happy with this arrangement. Akihiko was only fifteen and I thirteen; we were too young, and on top of that I was a female and Akihiko had the reputation of being a short-tempered brat. Choosing us as the Empire's newest leaders was the first sign of the decline of the Great Empire to the North.


	2. The Beginning Part 1

The Beginning Part 1

The Kage was enjoying himself, laughing loudly, which allowed the rest of us to be at ease. We were out on the lawn of the palace watching a group of young men from the noble families show off their swordplay skills in front of the rest of the noble families. I stood by the Kage's side, my arms clasped behind my back, as I watched on with a blank face. There were other things that the Kage should have been attending to at that moment instead of watching other men fight, but it wasn't as if it were my place to suggest that. It wasn't anyone's place to suggest that, really, unless they enjoyed the thought of their heads being detached from their shoulders.

The current favorite of the eligible noble heirs was a newly appointed captain, Captain Hosokawa Hiroto of the Hosokawa family. The boy had been blessed with the flowing blond hair and bright blue eyes that the finer folk of the Empire adored. The only thing better than that would be to be born with white hair, like that of those of the Tokudaiji family. One would have thought that he were of royal blood considering how much these people fawned over him.

The Kage chuckled, watching as Hiroto's opponent shook in front of him, then he looked up at me. "That your type of man, Ai?" he whispered. "The popular type, the type all women would die for?"

I looked back at him not breaking my cold expression. "I live only to serve you, sir. Marriage is not something that has ever crossed my mind."

The Kage blinked then chuckled again. He reached up to pat my head, ignoring the looks of disapproval those nearby shot us. "You'll just have to marry me then, one day, eh? Since you're so adamant about your job and all."

"I must request that you do not make such jokes, Kage-sama. You should choose a fine lady of noble blood to marry and to give birth to your heir, not me of such low birth."

"What are you talking about, Ai?" The Kage smiled up at me as if I hadn't understood something yet. "You grew up with me here in the palace. You were raised just as I was. Really, you're more noble than any of those noble women out there."

I wanted to tell him that it was not just the matter of how I was raised but also my lineage, but that would be stepping outside of my boundaries of what I could or could not say. Instead, I would need to ignore the heavy looks of disapproval the noble families were giving us and instead make sure that the Kage remained in a good mood. That was my most pressing job, after all, not even second to running the court soldiers. If the Kage was not happy, then none of us were happy after all.

We spent the next hour or so watching sweaty men get even more sweaty. The June heat was setting in, just in time for the Kage's twenty-second birthday. Watching the Kage, I could see him slowly loosing his good mood as his stuffy uniform stuck to his skin and as sweat dripped from his curly white hair to his nose. The lawn was getting tense as the nobles sensed the Kage's disgruntlement, but was saved by the bells ringing noon.

"Kage-sama," I said coolly, "would you like to come inside to have lunch? I hear the cooks have made fresh lemonade."

A sigh of relief was shared by everyone there as the Kage looked up at me smiling. "I would."

I followed the Kage as he made his way towards his apartments in the palace, his guests bowing as he left them behind. I stood a little too much behind him as we walked, wanting to hide the rather large sweat stain that had drenched the backside of his uniform. The Kage, however, didn't seem bothered over whether or not the nobility saw it.

"Ai, why do you think it's so hot during this time of year?" he asked me out of nowhere. He took a minute to eat a cookie, sugar falling onto his lap. "Why do we have a time of year that's unbearably hot? Why have a time that's extremely cold? Why not perfect weather all the time?"

He looked back at me when I didn't immediately reply. "Ai?" he grinned. "I thought you knew everything."

I blinked. "I'm sorry, sir, but there are things that even I do not know. The only person who would know the answer to that would be whomever created this world, if such a being does exist."

"Ah, I guess you're right." The Kage frowned a little and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I do wonder if the reason for such inconsistent weather is due to us humans ourselves."

"I am afraid I do not follow, sir."

"I mean, I wonder if the reason why the reason for bad weather, disease, and famine are all due to the actions of humans. We claim we are different from one another and so therefore we go to war with them." He sighed softly. "And I was thinking that if we were to end all wars and make a perfect, united country then all these 'bad things' will disappear. That is similar to the way how my father used to explain it, after all.."

"...Sir, are you planning on starting up the Campaigns again?"

The Kage was silent for a moment, then his eyes widened and he slapped his hand to his forehead. "Ah, dammit!" he exclaimed. "I told you! It was going to be a surprise!"

"You were going to keep the fact that you were going to restart the Campaigns from your head of military? Sir, excuse me if I am out of line, but that is-"

He cut me off by leaning over and putting a finger to my lips. Shutting up, I looked at him. "You are my friend, Ai, not just my General. I can have a little fun with you every once in awhile!" He gently pushed my arm, laughing softly. "But seriously though, now that I've gone and blown it all, I was going to announce it at my birthday ball two days from now for all of the nobility to hear."

I couldn't help but ask. "Who else knew about this, sir?"

"Oh, only...What was his name...? Oh, right! Ishida Shou, General of the Southern Empire."

The Kage grinned at me, not understanding how big this decision, his announcement, was. And, of all people, why Ishida? But I wouldn't risk asking him that. I didn't need him thinking that I was questioning him, or worse, disapproving of his decision.

Instead, I just pulled on that friendly smile that always calmed him down and nodded in approval. "I see, sir."

The Kage tilted his head, smiling still. "You're not mad at me, right?"

"Of course not, sir. Just tell me these things, if I may, sir? I am afraid I am not that big on surprises."

At this, the Kage just laughed, releasing the tension that was building up in my chest. "Yeah, I guess that is true, Ai! When I had Dad throw that little surprise party for your birthday when we were younger, remember how much you cried? You were in a horrible mood all day!"

"Sir, that's not very.."

"Appropriate? I know, ai, but look around." He swept his arm around, gesturing to the sitting area we were in, no one but the figures in the paintings to keep us company. "We're alone. There's no one to watch us. You can let loose, Ai. And call me Akihiko, please. None of this 'sir' and 'Kage-sama' stuff."

"Please, s-"

"Ah.." He raised his eyebrows and looked at me expectantly.

I sighed. "Akihiko."

"There you go!" he laughed. "You haven't called me that in some time. I was getting worried."

I tilted my head, trying to relax as he wanted. "Why, Akihiko?"

"No reason." He chuckled. "And, your face, it's funny."

As expected, the Kage's birthday ball went on without any problems. The event took place mainly in the ballroom of the palace, where most of the nobility could be found dancing to a live orchestra. Food was set out on the tables that lined the wall to the far left of the room. Waiters skirted expertly around the flowing dresses of the dancing women, offering all of the guests a glass of weak champagne, the only type of alcohol allowed by Custom outside of the wine all were allowed to drink during specific occasions.

Being that I was on duty, I wasn't allowed to have any.

I followed the Kage like an incessant fly as he moved about the room giving greetings to his guests as Custom required him to. He looked stuffy and unhappy in his restrictive uniform, even more so with the added heat of over a hundred bodies in the same room, but every so often he would look back and give me a smile. According to his own words, he knew how little fun this type of thing was for me since I had to follow him around all night and was unable to "enjoy myself". Therefore, he felt better because he wasn't the only one not happy.

When the clock started nearing midnight, we paused as Ishida made his way towards us. The Kage smiled, giving him an unprecedented wave. Ishida just smiled and waved back.

Ishida had been a strange man before he'd become General, but he somehow managed to become even stranger afterwards. His black eyes were too big, his lips too red, and his body too lanky for someone considered to be the top of his class, both physically and mentally. He wore his hair parted dramatically to the side, kept in place with too much hair gel, and the white color that all generals dyed their hair did not fit him at all.

"Kage-sama, happy birthday!" Ishida pronounced, dropping down into an elaborated bow. When the Kage motioned that he could stand up, amused by how Ishida was acting, Ishida gave him his signature grin. To the Kage, the grin was funny. To the rest, it was creepy.

"How are you doing, Ishida?" the Kage asked him. He continued on without waiting for his answer. "I'm sorry, I accidentally blew the big surprise to Ai." As the Kage chuckled, Ishida showed no signs of being annoyed or angry.

"That's quite alright, Kage-sama," Ishida replied, his grin growing wider. "Ai here probably wouldn't have enjoyed that surprise, right, Ai?" He chuckled softly at the look I gave him, then he looked back at the Kage. "Nevertheless, it's about time to give the big announcement, don't you think?"

"Oh, I suppose so. Give it before people start leaving. Come on, Ai."

I looked back at Ishida in the corner of my eye as I followed the Kage to the low stage on which the orchestra was performing. Ishida just continued to grin and waved. Then I turned back around, taking my place behind the Kage's right shoulder when he stood ready to give the news. As if on cue, the room went silent and gave all of its attention to him.

When the announcement was give, the initial reaction was plain shock. Men shared glances and women's fans stilled. The longer the silence stretched out, the more agitated I noticed the Kage was getting. His mood was about to boil over when Ishida started to clap. He was soon followed by the other generals, and then the guests finally joined in. I clapped as well, earning me a smile from the Kage. If he really wanted to go this route then I would need to support him. Some of the people here would be more than glad to jump onto any reason as to why the Kage was not suited for his position.

Just as well, the same went for me.


	3. The Beginning Part 2

The Beginning Part 2

I did not enjoy being around Ishida much less have to work with him in preparing battle plans. Apparently the Kage was not aware of this as he had sent me to the Southern Empire to help Ishida with the preparations for the upcoming Campaigns. Since the South was the only part of the Empire that touched the rest of the ninja world, it would be the South that would be leading the attacks. The rest of the Empire would follow their lead.

I'm sure the Kage thought he was being smart in sending me to help, two Generals had to be better than one after all, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to work with Ishida.

"What do you think, Ai?" Ishida asked me. He was looking over at me from across the table, coffee and cake laid out for us. My two assistants, Privates Kamata Haruka and Hanari Eiko, stood behind me. Eiko was starting to shake from having to stand there for so long. I was sure she was begging for me to finally touch my coffee.

"I am afraid you are going to have to be more specific, Ishida," I replied. "Are you talking about our war plans or the food? We have talked more about cuisine than we have about war."

"Ah, but we will have plenty time for that," Ishida promised. "You are a guest of mine, Ai. Enjoy yourself. You've never been to the Southern Isles, have you? It's a wonderful place. I suggest going there at least once before you die."

"Maybe I will." I finally took a sip of my coffee. Both he and I knew that that was a lie. I would never get a break from my duties long enough to do something like that. "But now is not the time to be planning a vacation."

"Yes, yes, I know what you are going to say." Ishida sighed and set his empty dishes aside as he laid a map out onto the table. "We're planning a war, not a holiday. You really are a workaholic, Ai. How are you ever going to find a man willing to marry you if work is the only thing you can talk about?"

"I have no intentions of marrying, Ishida, and quite frankly that is none of your business." I set my untouched cake and cup of coffee aside as I stood to look over the map. I pointed to the border between the Empire and the Land of Earth.

"I would suggest with focusing our manpower here, don't you agree? As you can see, the Land of Earth is the only continuous mass of land that the Empire is connected to, other than the Land of Lightning of course, but the Land of Earth also shares borders with all these other countries, see?" I traced the Land of Earth's southern and eastern border. "If we were to take the Land of Earth then also these other, smaller countries, then we would have a gateway to the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. After taking those three major countries, that would just leave the Land of Lightning to the northeast and the Land of Water to the southeast."

Ishida was quiet as he thought over my proposal. His finger tapped his chin, then he pointed to the Land of Lightning. "Wouldn't it be better to go after the Land of Lightening and the Land of Earth at the same time? That way we would have two battlefronts and once those countries fall we can go after the Land of Fire from either side. That country is the strongest in terms of military strength." He looked up at me, grinning. "We have more than enough men in the Imperial Army to take on two battlefronts. And it also weeds out the possibility of the Land of Lightning coming to the Land of Earth's aid."

"They haven't done that in the past, so why would they do that now?"

Ishida chuckled and poked my nose. I moved away, giving him an annoyed look. "Always expect the improbable my dear."

"Alright then, what about the Land of Wind? They could attack our army from the back while they were helping in attacking the Land of Fire. What do we do about that then?"

"The idea I came up with was that we could send in a third set of men through the conquered Land of Earth to attack the Land of Wind, then have them go and support those in the Land of Fire if they were to succeed before them. If not, those in the Land of Fire could go to help those in the Land of Wind once the Land of Fire falls." He looked up at me. "What do you think, Ai?"

I had to admit, it was a foolproof plan. "I like it." I nodded. "We will go with your plan."

Ishida smiled. "That just leaves the Land of Water then."

I dove right into the problem. "The issue with the Land of Water is that it's so isolated. Its main island is surrounded by a bunch of other, smaller islands. And by the time that we're ready to go after it the country should have knowledge of what's going on and will have prepared accordingly. My best guess is that they'll use the surrounding islands to fortify the main island, protecting their hidden village from any direct attacks. On top of that, our military is strong in land invasions but not naval invasions so we're at a disadvantage."

"But remember that we definitely outmatch the Land of Water in terms of manpower," Ishida told me. "The Empire's population is more than five times greater than that of the Land of Water. In the end, I think what will help us is our resilience."

"Do you really want to put your faith into that alone, Ishida? A good number of men could die if they were to sink one of our ships."

"We will worry about the specifics of the attack when we get there. We haven't even conquered one country. The Land of Water is still a ways away."

I looked at him then nodded in agreement. He had me there as annoying as it was. "Let's talk about the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth then."

"General, I've brought you your dinner." I waved Eiko over to me, gesturing for her to set it down on the table beside me. I was going over the rough battle plans Ishida and I had come up with this afternoon, totally immersed in my work.

It had been easier than I thought to work with him. All of his proposals made were sound and he took the time to explain all of his ideas to make sure that I understood why he was doing something. Sure, it was irritating that his ideas were always better than mine were, but it would be selfish to force the entire army to go with the worse plan due to the sake of my pride. Ishida never actually made fun of me for it anyway. All he would said is, "That's a good idea, but don't you think this way would be better?" I was starting to understand why he had been chosen to be Askikaga's replacement.

"G-General?" Eiko murmured.

"Hm?" I grunted in reply, not looking up from the papers in my hands.

"General Ishida informed me that this dish is a specialty from his hometown, chicken in a red chile sauce." I looked up from the papers to look at the food in front of me. "Y-You haven't eaten a-anything all day, General...I-I know that I'm stepping out of my rights, b-but i-isn't planning a war hard to d-do if you don't eat?"

The girl was right. "I will eat in just a minute, Eiko. Thank you for your concern..." My voice drifted off when I looked over at the girl in question. Her pink hair was out of its bun and the top few buttons of her uniform were undone. My expression went cold. "Why are you out of uniform, Private?"

The girl jumped at my tone. "M-My apologies, G-General! I-I just thought t-that...w-well..."

"Whatever you thought you thought wrong." I stood up, setting the battle plans aside, and gripped her by her arm. "Come with me."

"Oh my, what did you do to that poor girl, Ai?" Ishida said with a grin on his face. He bit into some pastry that was only available in the Southern Empire, the powdered sugar sticking to the corners of his mouth. "You have a temper. She and her friend look absolutely terrified of you."

I didn't reply to him, instead choosing to continue putting the final touches of our battle plans so that we could send them to the Kage and other Generals. Eiko's hands shook as she set a cup of tea down for me, bandages covering the large bruise on her arm. I waved her away.

"When are we planning the first assault again?" I asked Ishida.

"In two weeks time. My men are already preparing for it." He tilted his head. "Will you be joining us in the first assault or will you be heading back to the Capital?"

"Kage-sama has given me orders to remain here with you." I couldn't imagine why as this wasn't my job, but I did have to follow his orders. "Is that fine with you?"

"Anything Kage-sama desires is my own desire," Ishida replied with an odd grin. For some reason my stomach went cold. "I look forward to having you on the battlefield with me."


	4. Betrayed

Betrayed

The Land of Earth fell to us with very little resistance, and the same was true with the Land of Lightning. With a full-force, no-mercy surprise attack from the Imperial Empire, our troops cut a straight path all the way from the border to the hidden villages. Once the hidden villages fell, the daimyo of the countries surrendered soon afterwards. Ninja and ordinary citizens alike fled in order to find refuge in the surrounding countries. Ishida let them. It wouldn't matter anyway since we were just going to take over the refugee countries as well.

In reply to my report to him, the Kage was elated. "I knew that you guys couldn't be defeated," he wrote to me. "Keep up the good work!" I shook my head, allowing a smile, as I read his letter. His childishness managed to seep through even his writing.

"General, General Ishida wishes to speak with you," Haruka informed me. "Shall I let him in?"

I nodded. "Bring him in. Eiko, prepare some tea." Eiko jumped into action in response.

A few minutes later and I found myself sitting across from Ishida having tea with him. He had been all smiles since the first battle had started and I was starting to wonder if his face had frozen that way.

"I'd heard that you had originated from the Eastern Empire, Ai," Ishida started with, taking a polite sip of tea. "Maybe this is why you do not touch the coffee here?"

"The coffee is fine, Ishida," I replied. "What did you come here for?"

"Again, always to the point, Ai," Ishida chuckled, "but I will comply this time without teasing you. My spies have heard a rather peculiar bit of information that I thought should be told to you right away."

"Well?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It turns out that in the light of two of the Five Great Countries' fall to the Empire, the remaining three are scheduled to form a thus-far temporary alliance in order to protect one another from our attacks. Rumor has it that even an infamous criminal organization that calls itself 'Akatsuki' will be aiding the countries."

At first, I just stared at him, then I said, "That is rather unexpected. I had assumed that they wouldn't see us as such an imposing threat until it was too late."

Ishida nodded in agreement. "It is my guess that we underestimated our opponents, no? They caved in and decided to work together so quickly as you know, though I do wonder what this Akatsuki is aiming for in this."

"Are you wanting to change our plans?"

Ishida blinked then shook his head. "Revise maybe, but not change. For now, we should celebrate the two victories we currently have anyway." He smiled at me. The look he was giving me sent shivers down my spine. "I hear that Kage-sama has requested for you to return to his side."

"That is correct. I am scheduled to leave by horseback in three days time." I paused before adding, "Why do you ask, Ishida?"

"Oh, it's nothing really," Ishida laughed. "I was planning to head to Kumogakure the day after tomorrow to give a speech of goodwill to those still stuck in the village. They are to become citizens of the Empire after all, so why not welcome them as such and put their thoughts of rebellion at ease? I had been hoping to have you come with as I believed that you, being a female and all, could show to prove to them how progressive the Empire's thinking is. A female General, who would have thought!" Ishida threw his hands in the air to further accentuate his point then calmed down and put his arms down.

"Sorry about that, Ai, but I do mean that with all my heart," he continued. "Which is why I must ask you to ask Kage-sama to allow you a little while longer in the Southern Empire. You haven't sent your reply message to him yet, I hope? I am sure he would allow it considering how close the two of you are after all."

I forced my expression to remain neutral. Staying longer in the South was not something I wanted to do, and I couldn't be sure that the Kage was doing fine on his own. Whenever I leave his side there is always a pile of headless bodies waiting for me when I return. The Kage's temper was shorter when I wasn't around, but I didn't think that I could really turn down Ishida's offer. Looking at this from a social standpoint, he had me in a corner. He was asking me to help him in calming the fears of whom would become the Empire's newest citizens. Turning him down would look bad and would worsen both my reputation and the Kage's.

I finally sighed. "I will ask him to allow an extension of my time here. I hope to be able to join you in Kumogakure in giving this goodwill speech."

Ishida grinned widely at me. I stood up with him and held my hand out to shake. "To the future of the Empire," I told him.

Ishida grabbed my hand and leaned down, kissing it. "To the future of the Empire," he replied.

"U-Um...General?"

I turned around to look at Eiko. She stood there messing with her hands, Haruka standing beside her. Both looked nervous, something that eased my own nervousness.

"Yes, what is it Private?" I said persuading her to continue.

Eiko stood there stuttering for a full minute before Haruka intervened for her. "Something doesn't feel right, General." The girl walked over to the open tent flaps, peering out into the cloudy morning sky. "We're close to the area where you and General Ishida will be giving the speech, right? Why is the crowd so silent? Shouldn't they be...yelling, or something?

"They are probably just worried for the future," I replied, pushing her away from the opening of the tent. I looked from her to Eiko trying to give them a look that would encourage them. Eiko wasn't able to look me in the eye, her wounds still not healed yet.

Ishida then walked into the tent buzzing with excitement. It stood out in the prominent dreariness of the day, not fitting for the situation. He paused when he saw me.

"Ai, you're going to carry your swords out onstage?" he asked.

I looked from him to the swords on my back. "..Why not? What if they try to revolt?"

Ishida shook his head. "You can't expect them to trust us if we don't in turn trust them. See, look at me. I'm not carrying my sword out. You shouldn't take yours either."

He gave me an expectant look, that smile of his not returning until I'd taken off the two swords from my back and had handed them to Haruka to put away. I wasn't all that skilled in ninjutsu so without my swords I felt exposed, but he did have a point. I would need to either go up there weaponless or not at all.

Eiko and Haruka followed behind us as Ishida and I walked onto "stage"-the balcony of the building that was once the Raikage's office. A mass of dirty looking people stood below us, still looking dazed by the quickness of the fall of their country. I couldn't help but pity them as they stood out in the calm drizzle of rain.

Ishida did most of the talking, me only standing there to give encouragement. He talked about the wonders of the Empire, the Empire's supreme goal, and the righteousness of the Kage. He told them that with them now in the Empire's hands that their lives would improve. So many promises were given to them that I wasn't entirely sure if Ishida would be able to follow up with them. Then he turned their attention to me.

"I actually have a special guest with me here today, allowed to be here be the graciousness of the Great Kage!" he announced, putting a hand on my shoulder. "This here is Hachisuka Ai, the General of the Inner Empire. That means that she's the head of the Imperial Army and knows all of the army's secrets." I looked at him. An odd choice of words, but alright.

He continued. "You know what else she is? She's also Kage-sama's lapdog!" At that I stiffened. The people below were murmuring quietly. Ishida's grip on my shoulder tightened, the grin he was giving me widening. "She's not all that strong you know, and she was graciously given her position as a symbol of favor by the old Kage-sama. If you don't believe me, here, see for yourself!"

Before I could react, Ishida pulled me back then flung me forward. My eyes widened as I tipped over the railing and as the faces of those beneath me stared up at me blankly. Blood rushed to my ears blocking out the sounds around me as I managed to turn and look back at Ishida. His grin was all that I saw before Eiko got in the way, gripping the cut of my black uniform.

"GENERAL!" Eiko's exclamation was the only thing I heard as the two of us tumbled to the ground. Pain shot through my shoulder as I fell onto the concrete, then my head followed bouncing on the ground. My vision went black.


End file.
